Councilmember Dan Robinson said he was "still stewing and fuming" over the county's traffic restriction plan for Sligo Park Hills and Ritchie Avenue. He accused the county of "doing a great disservice" to the city, of "miscounting" in it's study, and of following an "unfortunate community model."

Grant Gripe

Councilmember Seamens likes picking items out of the consent agenda. A consent agenda, Dear Readers, is a collection of items that need no discussion and are sure to be passed. Bunching them up saves time. But, a councilmember can request that an item be removed from the consent agenda to be discussed and voted on separately. Seamens seems to do that more than most. Usually, he objects to big-ticket items being included in a consent agenda.

But, this time, he was fighting for his ward constituents. He has been objecting vociferously to the prioritization system devised for sidewalk installation. He promised to vote against it if private nursery schools - such as one in his ward - and churches were not given any weight in the prioritization scheme, which gave emphasis to public elementary schools. He objected that the priorities were "tailored for the grant, rather than community needs." The prioritization guidelines were set by Safe Routes to School, which funded the ranking project.

The staff changed the language in the final wording, giving more flexibility to the ranking system. This was an effort to placate Seamens, but he wanted bigger changes, and so asked for the item to be removed from the consent agenda so he could voice his objections again and vote against it. Dan Robinson also cast a "nay" vote.

Score!

Local basketball players are smiling. They will soon have another court to play on. The city decided after a series of meetings and neighborhood walk-throughs, that the best way to spend a $68,100 Community Development Block Grant was to build a new basketball court next to the city Community Center.

The block grant is intended to improve quality of life for moderate to low income households . The targeted area is Maple Avenue between Sligo Creek Park and Philadelphia Avenue, a community of apartment buildings and condominiums. The money must be spent by June 9.

Community members proposed and considered a number of options. A basketball court ranked highest. Parking will be created when the bottom of Grant Avenue is re-configured to allow access to the park behind Piney Branch Elementary School from Maple Avenue.

Time Out

Thanks to the absence of that notorious foot-dragger councilmember Reuben Snipper, the city council was able to finish its March 8th meeting before 10:30 PM, for ONCE.

That's the council's story, anyway. They conspired to pin all their recent long meetings on the absent Snipper.

Threatening to leave at 10:30 PM whether the meeting was over or not, councilmember Colleen Clay complained bitterly during the Council Comment segment about late nights and morning-after grogginess. She appealed for earlier meeting end-times. The previous week's session was nearly 4 hours long.

The rest of the council (and Your Gilbert) agreed. Mayor Williams said "our brains work better if we don't get too late, and we make better decisions." Councilmember Fred Schultz concurred.

Vowing to finish that night's meeting before councilmember Clay turned into a pumpkin, the mayor called on the others to be concise, and not stray afield. Before the 10:15 PM ending, the council found time to plot against councilmember Snipper. When he returns they plan to tell him that the long meetings were obviously his fault, since they had such a short one in his absence.

By the Clock

By the way, Your Gilbert timed the councilmembers during Council Comment period:

Colleen Clay, 5:42.
Fred Schultz, 3:13
Dan Robinson, 3:03,
Bruce Williams, 2:56 (all but 5 seconds being responses to questions)
Josh Wright, :40
Terry Seamens, :11

This gives you a fair idea of who uses up the most air-time, Dear Readers. However, all of them together only adds up to roughly 15 minutes. Following their comment session the council sat through a 45 minute agenda item, most of which consisted of a committee reading to them a report they all had in their hands, a procedure that happens far too often. Clearly the councilmembers are not the only ones who need to be concise and efficient with their time.

Noises Off

Television viewers of the city council meetings are occasionally treated to inadvertent sound effects. There are live microphones laid at desk level in front of councilmembers and in other locations. They are easy to overlook or forget.

Nervous finger tapping is most common - sounding like there's a 13-year old trying out a new drum set somewhere in the meeting room. Paper shuffling is another common one, making a noise much like waves crashing on rocks, and very effective at drowning out the speaker. Every once in a while we get an earful of a candy bar being unwrapped, or a chip bag being opened. The snackers think they are being quiet and surreptitious, but not to the tv audience. To them it sounds like the council is in danger of being consumed by a huge forest fire.

It was the sort of meeting that makes you appreciate small town democracy.

But, that's you, Dear Readers. It was the sort of meeting that makes Your Gilbert wish for a dictatorship where decisions are quick, concise and often deadly.

The remaining council and staff went a-parsing. They parsed the bejesus out of two items before them: a new contract for the city manager and a proposed amendment to housing code concerning "Landlord Entry. "

Don't glaze over, Dear Readers, we'll make this as interesting as we can.

Revving up their motorcycles, the councilmembers roared around the room perimeter, gaining speed until they had enough centrifugal force to tip sideways and drive on the walls, recently rounded for the purpose. Over the din, Terry Seamens asked that the city manager's proposed contract be removed from the consent agenda. The consent agenda is usually a bundle of no-brainer items that are expected to pass with no discussion or objection. This is to save time. Your Gilbert utters a hollow, ironic laugh.

Driving with no hands, Seamens shouted that he was perplexed by a section of the proposed contract. The previous contract was a five year agreement calling for the council to "meet and confer" by January 2009 to decide whether to offer another contract, "the duration to be jointly determined."

Seamen's bike began sputtering and wobbling. Seamens and the other councilmembers leapt free as their bikes collided and crashed into the center of the room and caught fire. Beating the flames with his coat, Seamens pointed out as an aside that the "meet and confer" session had not taken place, ahem, ahem.

Seamens had no objection to the "continuing basis" of the new contract terms, but he thought it should include some sort of regular "meet and confer" with the sole object of deciding whether to continue the contract or not. The council holds an annual review of the city manager, but Seamens felt that was not specific enough.

Bravely keeping their noses to the documents, the councilmembers fled the room, parsing the wording as they went. Councilmember Colleen Clay, doing a triple cartwheel out the door, dismissed Seamen's concerns. She was confident the contract was adequate. Jogging behind her, councilmember Dan Robinson said he on the other hand would like the "meet and confer" language in the new contract. As they tumbled into the hall, councilmembers Josh Wright and Fred Schultz said they were willing to table the contract pending clarification. Seamens' tabling motion passed 4 to 2, Snipper and Clay voting against.

The Pit

As smoke filled the community center and ninjas rappelled down dangling ropes around them, the council ran outside - right into an evil-smelling bog of quicksand. It was the dreaded Pit of Landlord Entry.

The proposed "landlord entry" revision to the housing code seeks to protect tenants by requiring landlords to give written notice 48 hours prior to entry of their rental unit for repairs or maintenance.

Sinking up to their chins, the council agreed the provision made sense for maintenance such as painting, but they thought it would be a hindrance in the case of an emergency repair such as a plumbing leak. This was the second time the provision had come before them (first time was Oct. 19, 2009), so they were a little annoyed that it needed still more revision. At one point Reuben Snipper, grabbing a dangling vine and pulling himself out of the goop, said that the original wording was better.

As Snipper pulled each of them out of the bog and tracer bullets began zinging overhead, the other councilmembers picked the paragraph apart, suggested alternative wording, then picked each other's suggestions apart. The ideas were flying as thick as snow in a blizzard, and some were just as flakey. Councilmember Fred Schultz got a little cranky that he couldn't get a word in. The housing department staff, looking as miserable as wet cats, sat through it all, but held fast to their contention that even in an emergency situation, written notice should be required because if a dispute arose, documentation would be necessary to resolve it.

Firing his rocket launcher into the hovering black helicopter, Schultz finally got to speak. He made the utterly sensible suggestion that the landlords carry waiver forms for tenants of sign if they need emergency access. Note to council - next time let Schultz speak first.

As it crashed onto a gasoline tanker-truck on East-West Highway, the helicopter ignited a gigantic explosion and fireball, so the council ended the discussion, sending the housing dept. staff slinking back to their office to do another rewrite.

What IS a "kudo," anyway? Whatever it is, it must be fairly compact, because the council was passing them out by the handful to the Public Works Department for how well they dug the city out of the recent snow storms.

It was supposed to be Ward 6 Night at Feb. 16th's city council meeting, but it frequently digressed into The Big Snow Night instead.

The council took the opportunity to vent a bit about PEPCO, themselves. Ward Six councilmember Fred Schultz heaped scorn on a PEPCO web site map that purportedly showed where current power outages were or had been fixed. It "bore no resemblance to the situation," he said.

Sticky Situation

It wasn't all about snow. One resident complained about how shabby " Ward 6 looked. She particularly noted "sticky roads," streets on which cracks and patches have been filled with a tar substance that, she said, looks ugly and gets on pedestrian's shoes.

She also wanted to know if the city could repost a "no left turn" sign where cars turn from Carroll Avenue into her neighborhood. A temporary sign was placed there as a test, she wanted it back on a permanent basis.

A couple of "teachable moments" lit up the faces of the council and staff. One resident's question was a springboard into a short discourse on the city/county double taxation for services, and the county's inadequate (in the city's opinion) rebate system.

Another springboard question about landlords and renters was answered by Housing and Community Development director Sara Daines with a short description of the city's rent control and tenant's rights.

Fred Schultz wrapped up the Ward 6 session by reminding the crowd that when they have a problem, "I'm your guy, talk to me!"

There's Snow Talk LIke Snow Talk

Every councilmember had something to say about the snow storm - besides handing out kudos to the Public Works Dept. Colleen Clay, having observed two busses trying to pass in opposite directions on Maple Ave, asked it if was possible to at least plow out places where vehicles could pull over to allow another to pass.

Kudos were also passed to Mayor Williams for improvising a food program for the snowplow operators. He asked residents via e-mail to make hot home cooked meals for them. They passed them to the crews as they went by. We bet they were tastier than kudos.

Are we going to use the storm experience to plan for the next one - or for something worse? Clay said the recent storm showed that preparation is key. Terry Seamens said it is apparent that the city is ill prepared to deal with a disaster. He cited the difficulties with power outages, meals-on-wheels deliveries, still-buried fire hydrants, and the fact that the homes of "vulnerable neighbors" such as the elderly and infirm, are not always identified. Clay called for more preparation on the neighborhood level, and for the the city to work with community associations toward that end.

Josh Wright, reported the grim news that the storm had taken one victim in his ward, an elderly man who had a fatal heart attack while shoveling snow. He was concerned about city contractors dumping show on sidewalks - which residents are supposed to keep clear. Dan Robinson asked the city manager to send him information about how city contractors are picked, but he did not reveal why he was interested.

Wright also was concerned with preparedness. He said the city's Emergency Preparedness Committee should take a look at how the city dealt with the storm, and he hoped people would be inspired to join that committee.

Clay also brought up an issue that was not related to the storm. The sidewalk in front of the under-construction firehouse was closed off when the below-ground floor was being dug out. But, now that part of the project has been completed, the former sidewalk is now full of porta-potties, stored construction materials and parked cars. Since the lack of sidewalk on a busy, difficult-to-cross road creates a danger for pedestrians, she said, shouldn't the sidewalk be opened up?

Road Trip

The council was "treated" to an extremely long report via speaker phone from the city's legislative lobbyist. Your Gilbert skipped this part. We went outside to shovel the street, hoping a neighbor would bring out a homemade cocktail, but alas!

We did hear the bit about Ethan Allen Avenue.

Ethan Allen - not the avenue, not the furniture store, but the original Revolutionary War soldier - lived in the Vermont Republic before it became a state. He was a judge in charge of confiscating property from tories.

Coincidentally, Ethan Allen Avenue has been confiscated. The state says we confiscated it, and welcome to it - but they don't really mean it. The city says yeah, it's our street, but they don't really mean it, either.

Apparently, this all started decades ago when the city resisted the State Highway Administration's plan to widen Route 410, which includes Ethan Allan Avenue. Route 410 ("East-West Highway") is one of a few state highways - main traffic arteries - that pass through Takoma Park.

The SHA's reaction has been, apparently, "OK, if we can't widen it, it's yours - to fix and maintain (but it's still a state highway, so you have to ask our permission to do anything to it, such as paint a crosswalk, and guess what our answer will be, nanny-nanny boo-boo?)"

Dear Readers who have had any dealings with the SHA will recognize that this is one of their more reasonable and mature responses.

Mine (Yours) or Yours (Mine)?

Whoever owns it, it is a mess and needs repair. The city has asked SHA to do it and SHA says "we don't want that ol' road, we're turning it over to you." The council thinks the offer is as sincere as Nixon's Checker's Speech.

The city would sort-of like to own it, but that would be expensive, it being a big, heavily traveled street badly in need of repair. So, our local state delegates are slyly pushing a bill that would require all state roads turned over to municipalities be redone prior to the hand over.

Slick.

Colleen Clay said that to further call SHA's bluff, "let's be totally and completely ridiculous - we're good at that!" She jokingly proposed installing stop signs, painting crosswalks, and other acts calculated to poke a finger in SHA's face. Josh Wright modestly proposed making it a toll road.

A more sober Mayor Bruce Williams cautioned the council not to act too much as though they really want the road "if we get what we wanted, we don't want it. Be careful what you ask for. It could be a sinkhole in cost." he warned.

The council considered amputation, but decided to save the limb. Some of them came prepared to saw away, if necessary, but the diagnosis showed city sanitation services (trash and recycling pickup) were rosy-pink healthy and worth saving.

Easy to say, but hard to do. For every taxpayer who wants relief, there is at least one other taxpayer (sometimes the same taxpayer) who doesn't want to give up services. The renovations are strongly supported by most of the council, so the project continues toward construction.

But, to address the anxiety, at its Feb. 8th meeting the council agreed to look at potential Public Works service cuts that might affect the ongoing renovation plans. They didn't want to erect an expensive new building only to cut the service it housed.

Sticking it to MoCo!

A service cut might not only save taxpayer's money, it would stick it to the county. One option is to force Montgomery County to provide a service that the city discontinues. This would be poetic justice. The city is permanently PO'ed that the county does not return the city's full share of tax revenues, forcing residents to pay (partially) for duplicate county services we don't get. Vengeance would be OURS!

But not so fast, Masked Avenger! The fact is, as councilmember Colleen Clay informed the rest of her colleagues, sanitation service is not one the city pays twice for.

Oh, oops.

Outweighing the Cons

Councilmember Fred Schultz laid out the reasons for keeping sanitation services. Residents would end up paying about the same or even more in fees for similar county or contractor services. Unlike city taxes, fees are not a tax deduction.

The city, Schultz said, would lose staff numbers and flexibility to deal with emergencies (such as the recent 2 ft deep snowstorm). The sanitation crews make up the second shift that the city often calls upon to drive snowplows.

As Schultz and other councilmembers stressed, it makes no sense to end a reliable service that gets high resident approval. "Why are we looking at this first?" queried Councilmember Terry Seamens.

And, finally, Schultz said that if the county took over, residents would be dealing with a larger more remote entity. Basic functions should be kept close to home, he said. As councilmember Dan Robinson said earlier, "spend our own taxes on our own staff and equipment."

A Little Off The Top

Since they had their scalpels and saws out already, the council suggested other trims they could make. Schultz asked the Public Works director Daryl Braithwaite if her department could get by with just one of the two new trucks the city was planning to buy. She said it could.

Terry Seamens said that cutting fall leaf pickups and allowing leaves to "compost in place" would not only save some money but would be a good environmental practice. The council pondered this with a long "hmmm, how's that going to go over with service-demanding residents?" sort of pause.

Seamens also suggested scrutinizing lower-rated services, such as the Recreation Department, as places to cut.

Public Works director Braithwaite passed on Councilmember Josh Wright's suggestion (he was not there, Mayor Williams posed the question on his behalf) that the department power its trucks with compressed gas as the county does. Braithwaite said the department tried it 15 years ago and it was, she said, a disaster. It was not cleaner or cheaper, she said, adding that new diesel engines are efficient and can use bio-fuel.

Heading another suggestion off at the pass, Mayor Williams warned that if the city handed road maintenance over to the county, residents would not be happy with the result. The city is on a 20 year street replacement cycle, the county is on a 40 year cycle. The county, he said, would therefore not begin to replace the most worn city streets for another two decades.

So, Dear Readers, looks like the Public Works renovation is going to make it on three wheels.

Snow Day

Takoma Park gets a "B."

The Resident Survey results were presented to the city council January 25 by Erin Caldwell of the National Research Center, the consulting firm that conducted the survey.

The survey results were what Ms Caldwell called a "report card" on city services and government, and a means to get citizen feedback. On a scale of "poor, fair, good, and excellent," the city was, on average, rated "good" -- a respectable "B" grade.

Snipper was more critical. He said the findings were not specific enough to act upon. "Large parts of it are not particularly relevant," he said.

Councilmember Fred Schultz shed a little rain, himself. He had qualms that the survey was skewed due to the type of people predisposed to respond. He looked at the respondents' statistics: 8 out of 10 had high speed internet, 48% had graduate or professional degrees.

However, respondents represented a wide range of income levels. More than half of them had annual household incomes lower than $100,000, including 12% of them under $25,000. Apparently, the city is stuffed with middle-to-low income Ph.Ds with high speed internet access.

Despite the council's cold precipitation, city staff says the surveys are useful to them.

Service Cuts?

One question dealt with possible budget shortfalls due to the poor economy. If necessary, the survey asked, should the city cut services or raise taxes? A slight majority of respondents (51%) favored reducing services rather than maintaining services by raising taxes (49%).

The survey then asked what services residents would be willing to cut.

Councilmember Clay was skeptical of those answers. She complained that respondents did not have enough background information to make informed decisions, and were "deciding what to cut in a vacuum." People will want to cut services they don't use, she said.

The top pick was "city communications" such as the newsletter and cable channel. The newsletter is an odd choice, the majority having said earlier in the survey that the city newsletter was their primary source of city information.

Also, bearing out Clay's contention that people didn't have the proper background information, the cable tv channel gets a lot of funding from the cable franchise, not the city.

The next two services residents would cut were recreation programs for adults, and special recreation events (Hallowe'en, movie nights, family trips, Touch a Truck).

Was It Good For You?

The questions probed resident satisfaction with the quality of life, safety, police, city services, and so forth. The survey also gauged the general awareness of emergency preparedness. 60% said they were aware that they should have a 3 day supply of food and provisions, but only 30% said they actually had it.

It also asked how residents wanted the city to deal with the Washington Adventist Hospital's probable move. 43% wanted the hospital to stay or to have healthcare services its place. Their biggest concern about the move was the environmental impact of new development.

Bench Presses

The city was last surveyed in 2007, and the ratings have generally improved. In most instances the city rated above the "benchmark" average ratings, These are calculated using statistics from hundreds of US cities.

The city was below the benchmark on shopping opportunities, safety after dark, economic development, quality of the city's web site, street lighting, overall appearance, street repairs and maintenance (the survey was taken during WSSC's street work), and library collections.

But, in over thirty other categories from city employee responsiveness to trash collection to the city being a good place to raise children, the city was above or equal to the benchmark.

Safely perched on his cloud, councilmember Snipper confessed to having skewed the results by filling out the survey himself. Apparently a compulsive survey-filler-outer, he did the same thing in 2007. Councilmember Colleen Clay, who also succumbed to that compulsion two years ago, loftily declared that this time she resisted.

It was an Action-packed night! The Task Force on Environmental Action gave its Interim Report to the city council Monday Jan 11.

The task force is charged with reviewing environmentally-relevant city plans, operations, polices, programs, and ordinances. They are preparing to make several recommendations, including how the city is to meet the council's environmental sustainability goal. They will present a five year plan with recommendations for the city government, residents, and businesses.

But Wait, There's MORE!

The council also calls for the committee to prepare a "roadmap" for realizing the city's Strategic Plan's vision, and to prioritize it's recommendations in order of the largest gain for the smallest investment - or "bigger bang for the buck," as it is often referred to.

Your Gilbert finds it close to miraculous that the council found 21 residents who were so gullible brave as to get drawn into this deal. But there they were, so full of beans that the council was concerned they were taking on more than intended. An awestruck Councilmember Reuben Snipper said he didn't anticipate that the task force would "solve problems by March 31," but would just lay out a "general roadmap" of where to go and how to make decisions. He said the material submitted was "already quite detailed."

For instance, the report notes that half of the city government's electricity use goes to street lighting. This provoked several "Hmmms!" from the council.

The committee wanted to add an opportunity for public feedback on their report before they submitted it, but they said to do so would require more time, which would create difficulties. As their terms are set to expire March 31, the council would have to extend them, and some members might not be able or willing to serve longer.

The committee was pleased with its work on what it called a "decision matrix," a way to prioritize recommended projects and programs. It places emphasis on the "more bang for the buck" aspect of each, they said. Councilmember Josh Wright began waving a big yellow caution flag at them - urging the task force not to rely too heavily on a matrix, based on the council's bad experience with one they used to decide which sidewalk projects to prioritize.

The committee asked the council to clarify whether they should be proposing actions that effect the city's carbon footprint or should they include other environmental aspects. The council said all environmental aspects were within their mission. They mentioned the Chesapeake Bay, storm water, habitat. All are connected to carbon emissions in some way, they said.

A committee member asked what sort of recommendations would likely be implemented. Would the council be willing, for instance, to create staff positions or redirect current staff to address environmental concerns?

The mayor said that such options could be proposed, but, given the current economic climate, he assumes that in the next budget cycle the city won't be adding staff. "Much more like we'll have fewer staff," he said. Letting staff members go and then adding environmental staff positions would be "tough," he added.

Councilmembers Clay and Josh Wright told the committee not to worry about the immediate budget restrictions, that their recommendations are for the long view. More funds, possibly federal funds, might be available for environmental projects in the future, they said.

The council placed gold stars on the task force member's foreheads as they summersaulted out the door.

Choose or Lose Booze

The council had another little chat about Demon Rum. Or in this case Demon Gourmet Wine Shoppes.

It was largely a rerun of their discussion last June on the subject. This time the council were deciding whether they should take the next step - asking for public opinion. They chose to proceed with that step, but with some mighty cold feet.

The question now goes to you residents, Dear Readers. Should the city allow beer and wine stores. And, if so, where?

Councilmember Colleen Clay was pretty sure where, and she didn't like it.

If the council follows the model of Kensington, one of the options to consider, the city would designate a specific area where a beer and wine store could be established. The designated area, Clay said, would likely be in affluent wards 1 and 3, excluding the less affluent wards. Clay represents Ward 2. Clay said she was "concerned about the message it sends."

Ward 1 councilmember Josh Wright, the most vocal council advocate of the proposal, said he was not excluding any wards, only responding to what he hears his constituents say they want.

Clay said whatever approach was used, it should be fair.

The main mover and shaker on this issue appears to be the Old Town Business Association (OTBA). most of Old Town is located in Josh Wright's Ward 1, the rest is in Ward 3. Roz Grigsby, OTBA executive director, says the OTBA has fielded a significant number of calls from various entrepreneurs wanting to open an upscale beer and wine store in Old Town. The business association, concerned about the number of empty storefronts, is eager to change the laws so such a store could open. They see a lost opportunity for the city, and a loss of city revenue when they see residents crossing the border to purchase liquor.

Terry Seamens, who expressed opposition to a liquor store last summer, said he'd heard "nothing to dissuade me from my previous position," He asked Ms Grigsby what "vision" OTBA had in mind. She said there are "thriving business models" that would include a fine wine store, but that did not mollify Seamens, who said he still wanted to see the "bigger picture."

Councilmember Reuben Snipper remains as cool to the idea as he was in June, though he did not object to getting the public's opinions, as raucous as they might be. He thought a "really nice pub" would solve a lot of the problem.

Tax It!

Councilmember Fred Schultz seemed to be open to the idea. He asked questions that leaned toward showing the advantages of having a beer and wine store. He asked if a liquor store would yield any more or less tax revenue than another business. City administrator Sue Ludlow said it was not easily calculable, but the city gets only real estate property and inventory taxes from businesses, and a liquor store would be no different.

Demonstrating that he has quickly adapted to thinking like a politician, the freshman councilmember asked if the city had the authority to slap a tax on liquor sales. The staff seemed to perk up at the suggestion of a new revenue source. Perhaps the mayor's earlier words about possible future staff cuts were on their minds.

Schultz observed that the neither of the closest liquor stores for his Ward 6 constituents felt very savory. He said it would be nice to have a pleasant, comfortable place with a good selection.

Schultz and Wright asked the police chief if his department has had problems with liquor-serving establishments (Roscoe's and the Olive Lounge) since they recently opened in Old Town. The chief admitted there have been none, though he said there were some problems with a liquor store on New Hampshire Avenue and a nearby liquor-serving restaurant. The liquor store is in a part of the city that was once in Prince George's County, and upon unification it was allowed to remain a liquor store- the only one in the city.

Schultz asked if the city could regulate the size of liquor bottles sold. The answer was no, county law goes into detailed specifics about that.

Chief Ronald Ricucci reminded the council that the county laws relating to liquor fill several books. He said he's spent several nights reading them and they are "the most complicated I've run into," in his long career as a law enforcement officer.

The way the law is set up, once a license for a beer and wine store is issued to a particular establishment, the city would have little control over what happens there. If the upscale wine shoppe the OTBA envisions goes out of business, a downscale beer store could take its place.

Nebraska

Clay said she had no issue with issuing liquor licenses, noting that where she grew up people could just buy liquor in supermarkets, as they can in many other places. But, she said, when she moved here and encountered the county's strict liquor control system she asked "Am I in Nebraska . . .?"

The county took control of all liquor sales in 1933 and held onto it as a lucrative revenue source ever since. Off-premise sales of hard liquor are restricted to county liquor stores. Off-premise sales of beer and wine are restricted to county liquor stores, and a few private stores and supermarkets. ALL liquor sold at those private stores and at restaurants must be purchased from the county, not directly from private distributors as is done in adjacent jurisdictions. This places all private beer and wine stores and restaurants at a disadvantage to their competitors in those adjacent jurisdictions. It also limits the selection.

They want opinions? Your Gilbert will give them one!

Colleen Clay ripped the band aid off the nasty oozing sore that is the Montgomery County Department of Liquor Control (DLC) when she said, in essence "what's the big deal with liquor?"

We feel the same. The issue is ridiculous. People should be able to buy a six-pack or bottle of wine at the supermarket along with other foods and beverages. Store owners should be able to buy liquor directly from distributors, not from the county. The local liquor licensing laws should not be so byzantine and voluminous that hardly anyone, even lawyers, can fathom them. The county should treat its citizens like grownups and it should get out of the liquor business.

But, that's not going to happen.

Since that's NOT going to happen, we think the city should not stick its foot anywhere near this putrid tar pit. We should not waste our time, or the city attorney's time, winding through the maze of county liquor law, and we should not encourage or aid the disgraceful county control system. The DLC deserves not one penny of our money. There are PLENTY of liquor stores just outside the county within a short drive, reasonable bike ride or walk of Takoma Park - including a county liquor store just across the border on Piney Branch Road at Flower Avenue.

What weighs the scale even more on the "no liquor store" side is Takoma Park's long history as a dry town. There are some longtime city residents who would like to keep it the way it is. We've already allowed liquor in restaurants. Given all the liquor stores within easy distance, opening one here seems unnecessary. It also looks like an act of yuppie-newcomer arrogance.

So, in short, Your Gilbert thinks the city should go the way that is easiest and honorific of its history and older residents - which is to pass on the idea.

Those Dear Readers who don't understand the origins and workings of the Montgomery County Department of Liquor Control (DLC) should take a few moments and read this excellent City Paper article "Pain in the Glass" by Tim Carman, published February, 2007

Meanwhile, Back in Nagasaki . . .

Maintaining the city's liberal reputation, the council passed a resolution endorsing the Mayors for Peace Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol. The mayors are calling for a nuke-free world by 2020. The resolution was, naturally, requested by the city's Nuclear Free Takoma Park Committee (NFTPC). The resolution authorizes Mayor Bruce Williams to sign the "Cities Appeal in Support of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol."

We have nothing against pot smokers - other than their unwise choice of drugs when there is so much legal alcohol available (maybe that's why they call it "dope"). But, we wonder who or what is behind the nationwide push to decriminalize. We don't know, but we suspect there are large corporations itching to market marijuana. Your Gilbert thinks a major industry selling a product combining the worst aspects of tobacco and liquor would be a bad thing.